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The three prerequisites for optimal physical fitness is exercise, diet, and sleep. Of all the three variables, sleep often gets neglected by most fitness fanatics.

The importance of sleep cannot be overemphasized in any training regime. It is an essential factor that affects both your diet and your workout performance. For those who don’t know, sleep helps to keep your hunger hormones in check and help with your cravings and appetite.

Inadequate sleep or sleep deprivation has lots of consequences on individuals. Folks who sleep poorly at night, end up gaining as much as 38d calories on a daily basis than people who get adequate sleep. Also, inadequate sleep can also affect your immune system, and that means there is an increased likelihood that you may fall sick, become injury prone, and even have mild to severe amnesia.

Nobody is above the repercussions of inadequate sleep, not even the best fitness coach or trainer. In as much as you are a fitness coach and you are taking care of your clients, it is even more important you focus on your health as well so you can give your best every time.

This guide is created explicitly for fitness pros, strength coaches, and trainers, in a bid to assist them with their sleep challenges. Below are some of the reasons why fitness pros and coaches don’t do so well with sleep

• Too much coffee and occasional booze Fitness trainers are often one of the busiest set of persons one could find. In order for them to get through their busy schedule, they often depend on caffeine and occasional booze to keep them awake all day.

Everybody knows caffeine and sleep don’t work together, and in as much as it keeps you active all through the day, t can deprive you of sleep not just for a night alone but as high as 3 to 7 nights depending on your body system.

Limit your caffeine intake, and if you need a pick me up, you can head outside and get some fresh air and sunlight.

• Crazy working hours Several fitness trainers have crazy working schedules that see them work from as early as 4 am in the morning to as late as 10 pm in the night. Most trainers would say time is money, hence why they need to ramp up the extra work ours. But then again, it isn’t worth it if all the money you make, you end up spending it to treat yourself.

A simple solution will be to utilize the free time you usually get in the midafternoon to sleep. This time, clients don’t often come around for their training, you can pick up a quiet spot or a sleeping room and take a nap. Do this continuously, and your body will adapt to it.

• The superman feeling Well, you think you are superman, so you can go all the distance by not sleeping adequately, well spoiler alert you are not. Given the nature of the job you do and the amount of energy you utilize, you can’t carry out your daily routine on just a 4-hour a night sleep. You would only compound problems for your body in no so distant time.

It is recommended that you sleep a minimum of 8 hours every night (or close to that number) for you to function effectively and still maintain optimal health. For you to be your best you need adequate sleep, even Superman gets to sleep adequately despite his busy schedule saving the world.

Determination doesn’t come easy especially with the pain that hardcore workout sessions entail. But just in case you were wondering how to handle the searing pain, here are 5 pro post-workout tips:

Let your body cool down Cooling down doesn’t mean rushing to your car and getting home after a grueling gym session. Do some light cardio to cool yourself and it will kickstart the recovery process for you. No need to do it for too long, only five minutes of light cardio is enough to cool your body.

A lot of metabolic waste products cause the searing pain that we all often feel after working out really hard. Make sure that you personalize the cardio and other cooling down activity to your exercise sets’ intensity. For example, after an upper body workout, use a lightweight machine to cool down your upper body.

Stretch Post Workout is fantastic for men who grow all bulky but lose flexibility with the expanding physique. Stretching can really help you manage your range of motion.Moreover, it will relax your nervous system; help you feel rejuvenated while helping your muscles move around better. But remember to be gentle to your body as a hard stretch may strain a sensitive part of your body. Try more diaphragmatic breathing while stretching for best recovery results.

Drink more water The most natural way of our bodies of cooling down is sweating. So, when the body starts losing all the hydration, the responsibility of rehydrating really lies with you. Make sure that you drink sufficient water and getting enough fluids in your body post the session. You may even end up losing your bodyweight in sweat and cardio will give you the most perspiration. Help your body regulate your temperature with ample hydration and also keep your joints flexible with sufficient lubrication. Moreover, rehydrating can help you handle constipation.

Get your daily dose of protein Most trainers will recommend you to take sufficient protein before the workout. But consuming a watched dosage of protein supplement post the workout can really help you repair your damaged muscles. Consistent feeding, protein intake, and amino acids will help you heal well even after the hardest workouts. However, do confirm with your trainer regarding the protein supplement based on your body size, workout goals, workout phase, etc.

Get Enough Sleep If you workout late in evening, then make sure that you manage your diet routine well. Don’t go home crashing on your sofa as soon as you enter the home. Build a persistence routine for your body but make sure that you get enough sleep to recover. Working out at any age without the necessary protocols can strain your body.

Without sleep, what are you?

Honestly, one cannot emphasize enough on how sleep affects your health. Read more to find out how.

Sleep’s Correlation with Weight Loss Lack of sleep encourages untimely hunger pangs, increase in appetite and in turn, weight gain. This occurs because of the simple imbalance of two hormones in the system, ghrelin, and leptin. Ghrelin, on the one hand, results in hunger with a special affinity towards carbohydrates. Leptin, on the other hand, inhibits hunger. Now, how sleep affects your health is a slight shift in your sleep-wake cycle causes the levels of ghrelin in your body. This subsequently leads to increase in carbohydrate intake which when converted to fat can result in weight gain.

Sleep’s Correlation with Muscle Gain The weekend warriors struggling to achieve the perfect six pack need their sleep too. Both duration and the quality of your sleep are key factors to muscle gain. Lack of sleep increases the cortisol levels in your blood. The cortisol levels initiate a catabolic cycle leading to the breakdown of your precious muscle. This process simply puts you back to square one. Wondering how to increase the rate of muscle gain? Do this. As little as 20-40 gram of good quality protein before bed can both decrease the rate of muscle breakdown and promote amino acid synthesis.

To reach the adequate amount of sleep required, simple everyday tricks are best practices. Setting a bed-time routine, meditation, limiting alcohol or caffeine intake are recommended. Within weeks of a set bedtime routine, you will experience the changes of how sleep affects your health in a positive way. Waking up tired is never an option!

Here are 7 daily morning routines that will set a positive tone to your day.

The world’s most successful people are early birds. They set their day for success with these practices:

Healthy Sleep – In truth, every day starts the night before, so you need to achieve at least seven hours of sleep. In life, we tend to try and eat healthily, get exercise, and develop all sorts of habits but all of this becomes harder when we don’t achieve enough sleep. According to the National Sleep Foundation, there are around 70 sleep disorders that affect 40 million Americans. Therefore, you need to spend some time getting to know your body and receiving help if you cannot get a good night’s rest.

Meditation – If you are religious, you can pray and if not just indulge in a short meditation session. Even if it is just 10-15 minutes, this quiet time by yourself should be focusing on gratitude for what you have as well as the desire for what you want to achieve both short- and long-term.

Physical Activity – Even if you can’t make it to the gym in the mornings, go for a short run, walk, or workout in the garden. Once you get the heart pumping, you will improve your mood and get ready for the day ahead. Working out first thing in the morning will help kickstart your metabolism and overall energy levels.

Young couple jogging in park at morning. Health and fitness.

Consume Protein – According to experts, around 30 grams of protein after waking prevents hunger spikes later in the day and keeps you full for longer. Rather than going for the toast or bagels, try and look towards eggs and meats. Even if you don’t eat dairy or meat, you will find your fix from greens, nuts, seeds, and so on.

detail of six eggs in a carton box isolated on white background

Cold Shower – In 2007, a study revealed that cold water is better in the shower because it promotes physical and mental wellbeing. Why? According to the research, the cold water activates neuro-chemicals that improve your mood which sets you up for the day.

Get Inspired – Rather than scrolling through social media, find something that inspires you and does it in the early morning. For example, you might prefer an audiobook, a book, music, or whatever it may be. To save time, you could do this while exercising.

Review Your Vision – By now, your goals should be written down on paper, and you should read them every morning. If you read these goals and your plan in the morning, you will be less inclined to procrastinate through the day.

How to live a healthy lifestyle:

1. Drink at least 3L of water per day 2. ½ of each meal should be vegetables 3. Don’t eat complex carbihydrates until after noon! 4. Eat 20 grams of protein within 1 hr of waking up 5. Move for at least 30 minutes each day! 6. Set a consistent bedtime, and stick to it 7. Sleep for at least 7 hours every night 8. Take time to respond to stresses, rather than reacting to them 9. Extract learning from every situation 10. Share your thoughts and opinions so you are heard.

What are some of your favorite healthy lifestyle tips? share it with us.